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NoD: Pikeville College began in today's City Hall

by
Peter Brackney

City Hall - Pikeville, Ky.

In 1887, three men rode into the hills of eastern Kentucky as members of the Ebenezer Presbytery, now part of the Presbyterian Church, USA. These men - Dr. W.C. Condit of Ashland, Dr. Samuel B. Alderson of Maysville, and Dr. James Hendricks of Flemingsburg - were concerned that "some of America's finest people were being neglected both in educational and spiritual development." After several trips into the area and upon the urging of the people, it was determined that Pikeville (then a community of about 300 people) should be the situs for an educational facility.Ground was broken in 1889 for the Pikeville Collegiate Institute and the Institute held its first classes on September 16, 1889. Using clay from the nearby Big Sandy River, bricks were fired on-site to create this two story structure which rests upon a foundation of locally sourced stone. The building is the oldest educational building in Pike County, even though its purpose is no longer educational. The building is also considered to be one of the oldest within Pikeville's city limits.

Pikeville Collegiate Institute, in 1909-1910, split into Pikeville College and the Pikeville College Academy, a prepatory institution. The Academy occupied this building, dubed the "Old Academy Building," until the Academy closed in 1955. When the building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1973, it was used for art classes but had been used over the years for classes, as a community center and as a chapel. After a period of abandonment, the City of Pikeville restored the Old Academy Building as its City Hall.

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